Movie Review: Organ Trail (2023)

Synopsis: A harsh 1870s Montana winter forces young Abigale (Abby) Archer and her family from the mountains and make camp in the valley below. While out hunting for food, her father and brother discover another camp that has been attacked and has one lone survivor, a woman, Cassidy, who is pinned by two arrows through her hands. They rescue Cassidy only to learn she is part of a gang of thieves who slaughter Abby's family during the night and take her hostage, determined to force her to be part of the gang. Abby resists and escapes but with the help of a rancher, soon returns to rescue her horse, the only family she has left.

Who's in it? The movie stars Zoé De Grand Maison, Olivia Grace Applegate, Sam Trammell, Nicholas Logan and Clé Bennett. 

Review: This was one of the first movies I came across after re-adding Paramount Plus as one of my movie sources. It looked intriguing so I added it to my list and watched it last night. I have to say, it was a surprising film.

This movie was not at all what I was expecting it to be. Based on the title and the very brief description Parmount gave, I assumed it was going to be a campy, blood-and-guts film with a simple plot, lots of unnecessary violence and gore and probably some gratuitous nudity. Heck, the movie even has the "R" rating you would expect to see with a film like that. Instead, it was a relatively tame drama/thriller with an intriguing plot.

Abby (Maison) proved to be a pleasant surprise as well. When she's first introduced, she seemed like such a meek character and, when she was taken hostage, it was easy to assume the bad guys would easily have their way with her. Instead, she proved to be very resourceful and stubborn, making it easy to root for her, even though her decision to return for her horse, rather than trying to get help from authorities, seemed a bit much (and that was with me understanding her motivation).

I also liked the wild card element Cassidy (Applegate) brought to the film. She too was a victim and seemed to genuinely want to protect Abby from the men who had force her to do things she didn't want to do. At the same time, her general fear of the men also meant she might cave in and turn against Abby at any time just to save herself. 

The end of the movie is a little crazier than I would prefer, both because the bad guys made it a little too easy for Abby to get her horse and because the one villain, Rhys (Logan) was a bit over the top as far as what he was able to survive, especially since there was no indication he was anything other than a human being (albeit a very sadistic one). That said, it also wasn't an ending that was overly predictable either, so I'll give it points for that.

Final Opinion: This wasn't what I was expecting, mostly because the title really doesn't fit the film's plot. However, I thought it was an interesting movie and would recommend taking the time to watch it.

My Grade: B